Jackie’s question: About a year ago my stylist starting using Paul Mitchell products on me and I haven’t loved my hair since! Now it’s damaged and it breaks easily. My stylist blames me using the flat iron. I know that doesn’t help BUT I used the flat iron for years and have never had this happen. She tells me that’s because I had my hair colored so much. I have never had these problems until she switched to Paul Mitchell. Is it possible that his products make my hair start to break off and thin out?
The Left Brain’s snappy comment:
Jackie, thanks so much for the question. I see how you could think that Paul Mitchell made your hair go bad, but I doubt that’s really what happened. Paul Mitchell products are not different enough from other products you’ve been using (except for being overpriced), so there is likely a different reason you’re experiencing hair breakage. It is natural to leap to conclusions like this, but they are often incorrect.
Instead of worrying about Paul Mitchell, I’d blame 3 other factors for your hair problem:
3 Things likely causing hair problems
1. Flat iron usage is VERY bad for your hair. That’s probably the most immediate cause of daily breakage. If you want less damage consider ironing less frequently.
2. In the long run, the worst thing you can is chemically color your hair. Coloring breaks down the hair’s protein making it weaker. Frequent chemical processing literally pushes your hair to its “breaking point.”
3. The first two factors are worsened because you’re getting older and your hair is weaker. As we age our hair gets less dense and more prone to breakage. That’s probably why you’re seeing so much hair breakage more recently – Father Time is catching up with you!
So, what can you do?
Well, the shampoo doesn’t matter much as long as you’re using a conditioner. The Paul Mitchell conditioner is good, but so are many other cheaper, mass market brands like Fructis, Pantene, or Tresemme. You might consider using one of these every time you do your hair. The conditioner should provide enough lubrication so that pulling on it with a comb does not break the hair. It may even provide some protection against the heat of the flat iron. If you’re not using a conditioner, be sure to use a conditioning shampoo like Pantene 2-in-1. This should help slow your hair breaking problem.
The Brains’ bottom line
In truth, heat, coloring, and age are all conspiring against you to break your hair. You can’t do anything about the aging process but if you stopped coloring and reduced the heat exposure, your hair would break less. Of course, then you might not like how it looks. Such is the price we pay for beauty!
Loading ...
{ 72 comments… read them below or add one }
Probably more related to the fact that you’re getting older and your hair is changing. Coloring is definitely a potential cause.
It is not likely related to the products.
I’ve been getting my hair colored at a PM Salon and my hair has never looked better. i’m spanish and my hair is very curly but PM products have made my dull hair shiny and the colors and rich and look beautiful. i have gotten many compliments. i think PM priducts are excellent!
I have some questions for the brains stemming from the original post, though any of the many hair professionals responding to this thread are welcome to chime in too.
I also have hair with extreme breakage that has been this way for years and I color and flat-iron it as well. I started using the flat-iron because I thought it caused less breakage than a blowout–I kept reading that using a brush on damp hair stretched it, so now I finger-comb it with the dryer then quickly run the iron over it to smooth it out. So which is more damaging: flat-iron or blowout? How much of a role does the temperature setting of the iron play regarding damage? Is the flat-iron significantly worse than a traditional curling-iron? Can you think of any non-damaging alternatives for smoothing and shaping my hair (I’m allergic to many leave-in products and because of the breakage my hair appears extremely frizzy)?
You said that coloring is the worst thing, I knew that bleaching was damaging, but I didn’t think that adding color was all that bad.
I used to use a temporary color(I think it was called semi-perminant), would that be less damaging than perminant?
Flat iron is more damaging. The direct heat on hair fibers is much more intense.
Flat iron is about the same damage as curling irons.
The least damaging would be to comb your hair straight, apply a styling product and let it air dry.
However, this won’t give you the best looking straight hair. You can use flat irons if you condition frequently & apply heat protecting leave-in products.
Temporary colors are less damaging than permanent.
hey im no professional but i have used alot of professional salon and non salon products.. paul mitchell gives my hair incredible shine and delicious smell, but it did cause tangles, breakage and massive hair fall
i thought it was hormonal initially bt it conpletely stopped when i switched brands of shampoo. I dont use their shampoos anymore i think their suitable only for certain hair types but when it comes to styleing products and serums theyr still the best iv ever used i especially like the super skinny serum, heat protection spray thingy and their foam pommade.
jackie, hi my name is LT and im gonna go ahead and answer your Paul Mitchell question. I am a Paul Mitchell hair stylists. to start off im just going to say that I have had paul mitchell the color on my head for over two years and i could not leave my house if i didnt flat iron my hair everyday. Paul mitchell the color has the least amonia in it then any other professional permanent color out there. And amonia is the damage causing agent in hair color. It also has a bees wax base which is very conditing. Flat Ironing is never going to be good for you but I will recommend the Paul Mitchell 1.0 smoothing iron. It has cilicone grips that actually pushes moisture into the hair strand. It is much less damaging then your traditional smoothing iron. but anyway about your hair breaking off there is one thing off the bat that you need to understand too much of one thing (good or bad) is NEVER good for you. reading your question it sounded a little like you were using a product from out strengh line (its pink)i could be wrong but im going to explain this using strenth line as my example. now your hair is made up of keratin which is a protien. so when your hair isnt doing to good a lot of stylists will recomend a protien treatment and usually that fixes things but a lot of clients will continue to use their protien shampoo or conditioner or treatment of whatever it is and thats where you go wrong. too much protien will WILL make your hair break off everytime. and thats the same for too much moisture or too much of anything. Paul Mitchell has product categories there is a moisture categories a strengh, volume, skinny and plenty more and i can promise that one of them will work for you. You just need a stylist that is educated enough in paul mitchell products to recomend the correct categorie. I really hope your problem gets fixed. Please dont give up on Paul Mitchell right away. when you are guided in the right direction I PROMISE you it is worth every penny. o ya ps. if you are not buying Paul Mitchell from a salon professional ITS FAKE. its called diversion you can research it if you would like.
judi. Freeze and shine hasnt changed. is your breakage all over your head? Your stylists has not changed but their products may have. going blonde can be very damaging. Have you recently permed or relaxed your hair?
hi jill. Paul Mitchell makes a flat iron called the 1.0 that actually pushes moisture into your hair. its amazing. im not gonna try to sell it to you anymore but i am going to suggest you go to a pm salon and ask for a style with knowldge conceltation about the 1.0 the thing sells itself. semi perm is deposit only and no it is not very damaging at all. most deposit isnt. your completely right about bleaching tho. good luck i hope everything works out
WOW LEFT BRAIN!! that was sooo dumb hahahaha maybe.. the ingredient list is on the bottle so pm doesnt get sued when someone has an allergic reaction?? idk just a thought… hahahha there is absolutly NO way your a licensed cosmetoligist
if you are im just gonna suggest that you quit
I have been a stylist for 35 years. Started using PM freeze and shine on client who could not do without. Started off slowly in summer months having itch on fore arms and continued to grow worse through the next years only in summer. Had to strt allergy meds. Found out the spray was clogging my pores on arms, and since we don’t have oil glands on arms just sweat glands. They were itching becuse of clog. It was quite painful besides looking like a dog all the time with a bad itch.
Paul Mitchell is one of the many brands that really does research while developing products there color is ammonia free and beeswaxed based and that is condtioning. I do not like the super skinny products but really thats it. I think their color and products are fabulous. I also know how to use them properly since I went to a Paul Mitchell School.
I also went from being happy with my hair to having excessive breakage about two and half months (and 2 colors) after my salon first switched from Goldwell to Paul Mitchell color. Nothing else in my haircare routine had changed, and I’ve never used flat irons or curling irons.
I also am a hairdresser and just started to use the PM awapuhi Moisture Mist and PM Super Skinny Serum. My hair has never been so bad! That is how I found this site! I googled causes for dry, broken, hair with scalp breakouts. After reading all the other comments It has to be thoses products!!! I don’t color my hair and almost never use heat …There is no other reason but PM for this problem!
I am 42 and I’ve had really healthy, glossy long hair (5 inches past my shoulders) for the last 13 years, non-stop. I blow dry about 5 times a year, have never used a flat iron, and use a curling iron about 1 time a year. I wash my hair every day and have been happy with my shampoo and conditioner for 10 years. The shampoo and conditioner have just been discontinued, though, and I have to find something else, so I got a travel sized bottle of Paul Mitchell super skinny shampoo to see how it worked. I used it for 3 days, went back to my old shampoo (I have half a bottle left) for about a week, then used the Paul Mitchell super skinny shampoo again for another 3 days.
That is when, suddenly, 3 days ago – literally overnight, my hair started breaking all over. Hairs were snapping off everywhere – a half-inch from my scalp, 10 inches down, 5 inches down, ALL OVER. My hair is so fine and straight naturally that the broken pieces now stick up all over and they do NOT smooth down, not even with all sorts of serums and things (which I ran out to a store to get) applied to them. I look like a porcupine, with quills sticking up all over.
It’s very distressing, for someone who always had nice, long, straight, healthy hair and who did not do anything damaging to it in order to keep it nice. My hair now looks like I’ve bleached it to death, like I’m crazy, like I don’t take care of myself, really ugly.
I immediately stopped using the Paul Mitchell shampoo and went back to my old shampoo. However, the hair is still breaking off. Every day for the last 2 days, more and more breakage has occurred.
Tonight I cut 5 inches off to get it to the shoulder level (it looked ridiculous being so long and frizzy). Because there are so many NEW broken hairs around my scalp that are only 1/2 inch to 1 inch long, if the breakage continues at this pace, I sincerely worry that at this time next week, I’ll be getting the shortest layered haircut I can imagine (and short, layered hair is REALLY not my cup of tea, and not appropriate for my head shape), or even needing to hide my hair under some kind of scarf for the next two months.
I am really upset about this, and I’m pretty angry. I’ve spent the last several hours on the internet trying to find out what has happened. I have learned about the controvery about “-cones” and ph levels etc. – none of which I knew before. I cannot believe that using a shampoo for 6 days can DESTROY a full head of hair that it took me 5 years to grow initially, and 13 years to keep intact.
The people here who are saying that all the complainers are illogical, or are just damaging their hair with tools, or are just getting older, etc. — and who don’t accept that a product, used correctly, can actually break hair a tremendous amount — are simply wrong. I don’t use hair tools/heat, I don’t use serums/hairsprays/colorants, I may be 42 but my hair has been absolutely fine until 3 days ago, so I don’t think it’s aging (and dying) all at once, all 15 inches of it.
I feel like screaming.
I’m also staying with a relative to help her out, and I’m nowhere near home, so in 4 days I have an appointment with a random salon in her little midwestern town to see if they can help me with this. I am not even around a hairdresser that I know or trust. On the phone, the receptionist at that salon told me that my hair sounds like it has had “an allergic reaction” and that’s why it’s breaking suddenly, which obviously is impossible (since hair is dead, it’s not going to have an allergic reaction).
If “-cone” products or Paul Mitchell products or whatever the heck has RUINED my long, healthy hair — my special trademark of my appearance, an integral part of my image and my body — I certainly think that these blasted products should carry a WARNING LABEL about the dangers of using these products, even for just a handful of days.
Maybe some customers have good luck with these products, but I have learned on the internet that many, many others have had their hair ruined. There is only so long you can get away with telling people that it’s their mistake, they are just not thinking straight, that they have damaged their hair themselves, that the product is perfect, etc.
The problem is that it’s not just that the products don’t clean as well as other shampoos, or leave the hair a little more oily, or make the color lighter, and can easily be substituted with another brand — they BREAK THE ACTUAL HAIR RIGHT OFF THE HEAD.
There is no way to prove what we were like “before”, so there is no way to complain and get compensation or alert the press for what these hair companies have done.
I am single and just starting dating again, and I feel horrible about how terrible my hair looks now, and it’s not my fault, and it all happened so suddenly.
At least curly hair that is frizzy has some kind of reason for looking like that and some kind of body and that hair is moving in understandable ways — but my straight hair that now has about 500 tiny straight 1-inch long hairs all over my scalp sticking outwards in all directions (mainly towards the sky) looks ridiculous.
Ya know after reading all these complaints, I am positive it’s the PM color that’s breaking my hair…. I used Feria for many many years never had a problem. 3 months into PM color & my hair is breaking.. So much for paying a fortune to get your hair done
I am super late here, but these are the most frustrating comments I have ever read. The women who run this site actually create the products that cosmetologists go to school to learn about.
You telling them they are unqualified because they didn’t go to cosmetology school is like telling walt disney he can’t tell you about mickey mouse because he didn’t study animation.
These women are scientists. Their knowledge of how products work are based on actual scientific facts…not the lame overhyped marketing “classes” that are used in the cosmetics industry.
This is really funny. I stopped using Paul Mitchell in the 80′s because my hair always seemed to become more fragile and breakable when I used it regularly. At the time, I chalked it up to the botanical ingredients, since I always had similar problems whenever I used the various chamomile and henna shampoos that were becoming popular at the time [I reasoned that if chamomile and henna were supposed to give you highlights, then they probably had to damage your hair in order to lighten it]. That said, my hair didn’t fall out, and it wasn’t something I couldn’t recover from–but I did notice it, especially with the tea tree shampoo, and I think (if I’m not mixing them up with another brand) it was awapuhi back then? Do they still make that one? I remember telling someone once when I was in my 20′s that herbals didn’t agree with my hair and they looked at me like I was crazy…how could I not like natural ingredients? Granted, my anti-botanical bias was a bit overgeneralized–that said, it figures that when, in my 30′s, I could finally afford salon highlights with ammonia and peroxide, I was relieved that my hair tolerated them infinitely better than my teenage experiences with henna. Anyway, I digress…
Whoa…just checked–they do still make the awapuhi…and I’m still not using it:)
Incidentally, my favorite 80′s shampoos were made by KMS. I was sad when they changed all their products a few years ago and dropped my old favorite cleanse pHree shampoo.
I am going into high school next year and have tried many different hair care products. I have golden colored hair that is thin and fine, so I know all about breakage and split ends. I know that there are waxes in products such as Pantene and Garnier. I have recently started to use salon brand products, and I know that I will never stop. They may be expensive, but if you truly want healthy hair, salon brands are the best and most effective. I love the new Redken Real Control products; they have finally made my hair healthy. The problem is that they have become more expensive, so I went searching for a new product. I found the Paul Mitchell collection at my salon, and it looked promising enough that I had brought it home with me today. I stay away from any heat tools; I know how extremely damaging they can be for your hair. I want thebeautybrains to know that she needs to become more educated on hair if she is going to argue proffesional hair stylists. I truly believe that even I, going into high school, know a bit more about hair and how it works than she does. There is a ph level in hair. There are products with wax and plastic properties in them. Yes, it is true that convenient stores such as CVS, Target, Wallgreens, and more may tamper with the product inside of the bottle to save money (keep in mind that Target is my favorite store). I have not yet tried Paul Mitchell, but even after reading some discouraging reviews, I have faith that it will meet my needs just fine.
I find it absolutely ridiculous that people much older than me are arguing over such topics. I feel that people need to start getting their facts straight and to stop believing everything they hear or read.
I wish you all healthy hair, Susan
I’m sorry if I seemed rude; I’m usually not so aggravated! I am very hesitant now to use Paul Mitchell’s Awapuhi Shampoo and The Conditioner(leave-in) after reading more reviews. I’m not really sure what I should use other than the expensive Redken Real Control on my thin, fine, not-color-treated hair. What should I do? Please reply!!!!
Susan,
Just try awapuhi if you want to. Don’t worry about reviews. If you don’t like it, you can switch. One good thing about the fact that everyone doesn’t agree about products is that often these things come down to personal preference. I understand how it can be frustrating when the comments degenerate into arguments. But I would challenge you, too, not to believe everything you hear or read. Understand that the beauty brains are scientists who know a lot about the science of cosmetic ingredients. They have studied sciences at a more advanced level than professional stylists. Although professional stylists, of course, are better skilled in hairstyling and professional color treatment than the beauty brains, they do not have as advanced a knowledge of science generally, and for that reason, they may not always have the broader scientific knowledge base that one would need to separate myth from fact when it comes to information that is passed on to them or that they are given by the manufacturers–about products, what’s in them, and how it works or fails to work. That isn’t a lack of intelligence or good sense, it’s just a difference in the nature of the stylist’s educational curriculum when compared to a chemist’s program of study. The beauty brains are here to correct any unscientific myths that may be out there. They are good people to ask, for example, if it’s really true that some hair products have waxes or plastics in them that make them bad for your hair. Ask yourself how you know more than the beauty brains about hair? How much science have you taken in school at this point? Ask yourself, if you wanted to be sure you were getting the best information about the science behind how a chemical ingredient in an artist’s oil paint works, would you want to talk to a chemistry teacher with a doctoral degree in chemistry, or the artist who is using the paint?